Phil's Blog

Spud U Like

2011-02-18T09:36:00.001Z

At the end of january garden centres having cleared heir shelves of the leftovers from christmas start to look forward to the coming spring with flower bulbs, seeds and propagation equipment being thrust to the fore. Growing vegetables is increasing in popularity and it's at this time of year that seed potatoes are bought. This allows them some time to sprout (or chit in gardening terms) before being planted out after the last frosts.
In most places seed potatoes are sold in either 1.5 or 2Kg net bags which is quite a lot of potatoes and only the most popular varieties are sold. Increasingly the seed companies realise that this is too many for people who don't have a large garden or allotment to grow in and now you can buy smaller packs, 6 or 10 of the potato tubers to grow in a small space or containers.
For some even this is too many, or the selection is not of the varieties they want to grow. For those growers there are events like Potato Day organised by Garden Organic at their display garden and base near Coventry. In a marquee you can buy potatoes by the tuber, paying just for those you buy, so you get the number you want. There were over 100 varieties from heritage spuds claiming to be one of the oldest cultivars still available to some of new on the market this year with all sorts in between. First early, second early, early maincrop, maincrop, late maincrop, when do you want your potatoes to be ready? Slug resistance, blight resistance, eelworm resistance, what problems do you suffer from we have the spud for you! Waxy, floury, salad, general purpose. Red skin, blue flesh, white flesh, golden skin, smooth or knobbly you can choose.
Along with this myriad of choice of potatoes to grow there were talks given by potato experts on cooking potatoes, the problem of blight and what is being done about breeding resistant varieties and more.

This year we weren't so phased by seeing the large number of potatoes on offer and had an idea of the kind of potatoes we wanted to buy. This is unlike the first time we went a few years ago where we were overwhelmed by sheer numbers but then we did ask for some help from the many volunteers and got some very good advice then. A selection of first earlies (Casablanca), maincrop (Pentland Squire) and salad (International Kidney) potatoes were bought and should give us a good range of time from when the first potatoes are dug to when we finally finish eating them from storage next winter.

James Grieve

2010-09-02T10:05:00.003+01:00

Now I've no idea who James Grieve was but his name has been given to a mighty fine apple.
It's one of the varieties we put in our little mini orchard way back near the start of the year. We've been very good and have only kept one apple on each of the trees. When I was tying the trees into the cane and wire cordon supports I found this under the James Grieve.

We tasted a small sliver and found it good, firm and tart. We cooked it up in some tin foil at the end of a bbq and it tasted superb cooked with raisins, sugar and a drop of cider.

Hooray for the Volunteers

2010-08-16T09:53:00.003+01:00

This weekend I managed to harvest 3Kg of potatoes.
A normal weekly task on any plot at this time of year. These though were all from potato plants that were growing from what we thought was land cleared of the potato crop last autumn. Hopefully I've not left any bits for them to start growing again next year.

Still growing

2010-08-02T17:05:00.001+01:00

It's all still growing, unlike this blog.
Here are some recent pictures.

Parsnips

Leeks

Apple trees with leaves (and an apple)

Sow Seed, Grow Veg

2010-05-21T14:44:00.003+01:00

Sometimes when you sow seeds you expect things to happen quite quickly. Other times you expect things not to happen at all.

Parsnips are one of those seeds where the latter certainly applies and use of old seed is not recommended. We had sown a tray with seed from old opened packets (one and two years old). Nothing was seen of them again. Another tray was sown with fresh seed from a new packet and three weeks later they're pretty much all up. That first tray was reused and had the fresh seed sown about a week after the first and they're now showing their heads above the soil level.

Now then I'd better get digging down the plot to get a couple of beds for roots to go in - these and the carrots will be ready to go out in no time I'm sure.

First Harvest

2010-05-18T11:41:00.004+01:00

Somethings you've got to wait for - the apple trees reaching their peak will take some years, or the spuds will be months rather than days or weeks. Other things are much much quicker.
The first harvest from the plot in 2010 is in and a few radishes have been pulled from some very short rows - I think we got a bit sick of radish last year when we had lots and lots and lots of them. Still this year it's all new and fresh and exciting once again.

Not Dead Yet

2010-05-18T11:27:00.004+01:00

Well the apple trees we put in are all in growth with some of them producing nice apple blossom. Not that we want to get any apples this year (that will be hard to pull them from the tree if any form) because we want to them to be busy growing a good root system and building up the framework of branches on the cordon.

All Go

2010-05-11T09:44:00.002+01:00

Well it is that time of year again. There are windowsills full of pots, benches outside have things on them waiting to get big enough to plant out or pot on. There is never enough time to go to work, tend the garden and get work done on the plot. Hopefully all this activity now will bring forth a good harvest later in the year

Return to the plot

2010-03-16T14:34:00.005Z

Well I did seem to rather drop out there for a while didn't I. I'll try and update this more often now that we're entering another growing season.

We have been busy with the allotment, over the worst winter for a long while (we had snow up to about 12in deep) in the village garlic, onions and broad beans have been trying to survive. It seems like most of them have survived and now are getting going again.
Before the winter weather happened we collected some fruit trees I ordered. 6 apples and 1 plum. The plum is now in the place cleared for it in the garden, it just needs a first pruning to enable us to train it as a fan. The apples took somewhat longer to get in the ground. We've had the idea of using trained apples as one of the boundaries to the plot. Training the apples as angled cordons along post and wire supports. This has been seen at places like the kitchen garden at Tatton and Ryton Organic Gardens and looks really good, so we nicked the idea.
Where the main pathway up through the site borders our plot we decided to put the 'fence' and over several weeks have worked at clearing the ground, then putting up the supports and finally planting of the first 6 apple trees this last weekend. There is enough space for 9 trees along the support but we've got 6 trees for now as that was all I could afford at the time. The trees are Dabinett, James Grieve, Charles Ross, Lord Lambourne, Spartan and Sunset.

Now for a couple of pictures to show off the handiwork.

Hi Summer

2009-07-22T10:23:00.002+01:00

Well it seems that we're well into the rainy season again here, high summer. Several times in the last couple of weeks I've been thwarted by the rainy, showery weather.

Still things are growing a pace. The annuals sown in a bed along one edge are comming on fine with some of the poppies flowering already. The lettuces sown earlier in the year we're now able to pick and eat, even though they're only small. More seeds have been sown for more salads and they're emerging. The potatoes are starting to flower and we'll soon start to dig those up as we need them - we've finished the ones sown in the veg beds at home now. At home the broad beans are at a nice edible size and are getting used.
Still there is plenty to keep us busy. The grass always needs keeping on top of - I've started to try and dig over some of the grassed areas rather than having to keep cutting it all by hand. Planning for what we should be doing in the plot over winter should be happening now as well - where more permanent beds and plantings should be. What sort of fruit we want and where - I like the idea of an edible hedge with hazel, sloes, plums, roses, hops and things like that growing through it, nice to look at and nice to eat.

Comfrey

2009-06-29T15:13:00.003+01:00

So earlier in the year we ordered a lot of stuff from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.
One of the items was five root cuttings of Bocking 14 Comfrey to be planted on the allotment for general compost and plant food making. Eventually the root cuttings arrived and I planted them up an a small tray as best I could. Now they are looking like

Hopefully we'll work out where we want them to go soon and so be able to plant them out. If not they'll be kept on in pots till a final position is found, probably next to where the compost bins will be placed at the bottom of the plot. At the moment though we've got a whole bunch of flower seedlings there trying to get big enough to flower for a bit of colour.

Night Shining

2009-06-25T09:37:00.002+01:00

Over the years I've been fascinated by various natural optical phenomena that can be seen. Sundogs and halos, parhelic arcs and circumzenithal arcs have been seen over the years (the last of those is great by the way, looking like an upside down rainbow grinning at the top of the sky). Of course manyh rainbows have been seen. Single, double, partial and the last one looked like it was going down into the valley we were driving into. Moon halos are harder to see in that you need a dark sky and bright moon as well as the right conditions for halo formation.

I've managed to see aurorae from home, nothing spectacular but certainly green glowing in the sky where normally there isn't any.

Once thing I've not seen for certain is Noctilucent Clouds. Not till over night tuesday/wednesday anyway. Over the years during the summer months if I've woken in the night then I'll have looked out of the window at the back towards the north to see if any were there. Often I did think I could see something but was never sure if what I was looking at was noctilucent clouds or just a slightly woozey addled brain making up what I wanted to see when I'd just woken up.

Overnight I woke up again and after dealing with what needed dealing with I thought tonight would be a good night for looking out to see noctilucent clouds. The night had started quite still and very clear and would have been great for stargazing had it not been just after midsummer. At about 2 in the morning though the sky had gone as dark as it could get. I stepped out into the garden and looked towards the north and northeast. There for a few degrees above the horizon was a blueish, whitish glow. Within the faintly glowing area there was some form of cloud like structure. I think that must be it. Finally, definitely noctilucent clouds.

For more information about the how and why of all the phenomenon I've mentioned and many more, Les Cowley's Atmospheric Optics website is the best.

What to do with radishes?

2009-06-24T12:20:00.004+01:00

I think the post title says it all really. What to do with too many radishes?
Now when you sprinkle the packet of seed along the drill in the carefully prepared bed little do you expect that all the seeds will germinate, nor even most of the seeds. A few to come through here and there will do. After all there are only so many radishes you can eat. So now there here they're growing fast and something needs to be done.
I think that the answer will be composting. We're now at the point where we have to start making a heap for compost. The rough couch grass is growing very well on the uncultivated areas and needs to be cut back - an hour or two with the shears this evening I think. That will form the basis for the pile. We may get round to constructing some sort of bin system but first we would have to decide where it's going to go.Grass clippings and some stuff from the manure pile should be a good start.
That and some radishes.

It's all in the eating

2009-06-05T09:35:00.003+01:00

The other day when we went up to water everything after yet more hot dry weather, the other half noticed that there was there first harvest opportunity.
The early strawberries that had been planted had got their first fruits and two seemed to be ripe. Pulling them off the plants was good. Eating them for that fresh strawberryness hit was even better.

The first of many harvests I hope.

7.0%

2009-06-03T16:46:00.003+01:00

The first diabetes related post. These will happen every so often.

So the HbA1c result I got has come down a little from my last test. 7.0 from 7.3 This is heading in the right direction so I should be pleased. I still want to get it nearer to the 6.5% that is the recommended value. I think changing some of my insulin ratios after a discussion with my diabetes nurse has helped and I'm not going too high after my evening meal now.
I also got back the results of a liver function test and all was well, not bad for having the blood taken the morning after my birthday :-)

Getting Growing

2009-06-03T16:35:00.008+01:00

It has all started to get growing now that we've had a bit of good weather. Probably a bit too good weather in fact, it's not rained for what seems like an age now and the wind still rips across the site drying everything out.

This is the seedbed with the radishes showing well. There are also the first signs of some spring onions, carrots and lettuces in there. The parsnips haven't started to come through but I'm not too worried about that yet.

The strawberries that we planted through some weed fabric. These do need netting off to stop the ripening berries being got before we get them.

The sweetcorn inside it's windbreak netting protection. 19 plants, not bad considering that they were bought for £1.99 in a tray with 9 modules in. They've been growing at home waiting for a suitabe day after the bed was prepared - and the windbreak to be put up to protect them.

A general view of the plot showing that we have been working and cultivating it. I do hope it's all worth it in the end!

Right best get off to water everything in there.

You wait ages for one

2009-05-11T15:19:00.007+01:00

...then three come along at once.

On sunday the local football club Glossop North End played in the FA Vase final at Wembley Stadium. The club managed to get a charter train to take 700 fans there and back for the day out.
I was expecting the train to have a loco at each end, which it did (class 47s) but also at the back there was a third loco, a class 57 liveried in the Virgin Trains Thunderbird loco - I have heard the train ran all the way to Manchester picadilly and then reversed so it was double headed down to London.
So here are some pictures of the first loco working out of Glossop in a very long time (back in December a railtour took a couple of locos up to Hadfield and back to Manchester, so the viaduct has had loco hauled stock over it in the last 6 months).

47826 at the front of the working

47786 Roy Castle OBE almost at the rear of the train

57308 Tin Tin at the back

Heading out over the viaduct

Those are probably the first and last locos to work a passenger service from and to Glossop in a long time

Digging

2009-05-04T20:54:00.004+01:00

Well there are now things planted.
The only problem with planting stuff on a virgin site is all the digging that goes along with it. We have three trenches of potatoes in and a bed with some onion sets. The trenches for the spuds are about 40-50cm wide by about 4m long and are down about a foot deep. The onion bed was dug over about 130cm wide by 4m long and then had the sets put in. I've also dug another similar sized bed but need to work it over again with a fork and rake before it can be used for planting.

For a gardener who is very much of the no dig school, this is quite a lot of digging!

We need to work out where to put the shed as we've had a word with a neighbor who is getting rid of a small shed and they've said we can have it. When we do get that up it will make life a bit easier as we won't be having to carry all the tools down through the village from the house to the plot.

The New Plot

2009-04-29T15:09:00.003+01:00

So we've got a half plot on some very new allotments in the village. We did wonder if we'd left it too late to get anything, thankfully that was not the case. I only got the call confirming this earlier on in the week so now it's all to be done there.

This shows the full plot just over a week ago (we've got till somewhere after the metal pole) after several weeks of dry and warm weather. It was a field used as rough pasture that has been ploughed up so lots of weeding to be done to get those perennial roots out of the ground.

When I went up to have a look at the site after being told we'd got a plot it was much more lush. That's what a bit of water in this warm weather will do.

So now to get some stuff in. We've seed potatoes, onion sets to start with and a lot of seed to try out as and when we can get to clear areas for beds.
In the long term there are all sorts of ideas about fruit trees, edible hedges, sheds and so on but for now there are lots of jobs that need doing.

The dreaded opening post

2009-04-28T15:33:00.002+01:00

Well here I am. As ever unfashionably late to the party, sliding along the blunt butter knife of technology with a blog.
Another monkey at the typewriter so don't expect Shakespeare.

Why now, well I suppose why not. I've been thinking about it for a while and now it's here. We've just taken on a new allotment in the village so that seemed as good a spur as any.

What this won't be (I hope) is just another allotment blog detailing what we can get going on the plot but I hope it will record some of that. It won't just be a blog about living with type 1 diabetes, though that will feature. It won't just be about beer, music, transport, photos or other things exclusively. I hope it will be a blog about all my life and interests, so welcome in and hopefully enjoy.